Holy beavers and pie, Batman!
The sky was falling!
Or maybe it was just me..
....
Yeahhhhhh, just me.
I was really just tired of finding myself falling..
I mean, I know things happen, but I really was.
Nothing to do about it now, though.
Welp. No trouble.
Just wait a bit for either Tink to come investigate or for Pan himself to come and rescue me.
I most definitely wasn't counting on the Lost Boys to save me.
I most definitely wasn't counting on the Lost Boys to save me.
So the flying adolescent was my only hope.
Therefore, I descended patiently, taking forced, deep breaths, as the wind below drove itself straight up into me like a semi-truck, quite relentlessly.
I was having trouble keeping my eyes open from the intensity, but I had to remain strong.
Help was coming!
......however......
Things started to get a little worrisome.
When a few minutes had passed of just me falling..and falling..with no aid what-so-ever...
I found myself starting to look a little desperately around me, for any sign.
..................but nothing.
My heart shot itself straight up into my throat.
Scrap.
As I rotated my head back to point below, I now saw that me and the island were now seconds from impact. Actual deadly freaking impact.
And my eyes enlarged to the size of two solar systems.
NOODLE SCRAG INDIANA MOSES LUMPS NEBRASKA JO NEEDLEMEYER
I AM GOING TO DIEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!
Annndddd
bunk - dunk - ba - dunk
na - dunk - ma - dunk - BUNK - BUNK
pain, ouchie, ow.
Why.
What have I done.
I may not be the most glamorous human being, but really.
There I was, bouncing off trees and limbs and branches and there was so much pain, that shocked me with every single impact and every single sharp prod--which all lasted about two seconds, before finally, I did one last landing against a large cluster of tropical leaves, that I half-sprang, half-slid from, and bam.
I collided face-first into the ground.
The landing had turned my head to the side, and I laid for a mere second, trying to recover my breath.
I didn't linger. As soon as I lifted my eyes upwards, I immediately shot up from the dirt ground beneath me and staggered a little, catching onto the tree sitting near me.
I didn't linger. As soon as I lifted my eyes upwards, I immediately shot up from the dirt ground beneath me and staggered a little, catching onto the tree sitting near me.
Upon looking around, I saw that I had landed smack-dab inside the jungle-y area, trees surrounding me, night sky barely visible. The shades of everything were rather dark in tone, though not enough to make it hard to see.
Pivoting in the same area, I had only three thoughts.
1) Crud.
2) That really hurt. stupid nature.
3) Dear God, how am I still alive right now.
Ground-bound again.
whyyyyyyyy
"Ohhh, man.."
So yeah, there wasn't much I could do except move from my spot and try to find a good view of the T.A.R.D.I.S.. I wound up spotting the tiny little dash of metal hovering in the moonlight, wayyyy above, and wayyyy far away.
It was only an inch or two in size, from what my eyes could see.
So the distance was rather immense.
I took steady, calm breaths as I watched it sitting there, so far away from me,
me, once again, a stranded hopeless mess.
Eh...
*beep beep*
"..The heck?!"
That wasn't language!
My eyes shot at my pants pocket. Reaching in, I felt something hard and hand-sized.
As I pulled it out, I realized it was a little walkie talkie.
"Huh??"
"DEMENS!"
"WAAAA!!!"
Like a brilliant individual, I tossed the thing up into the air and upon processing my error, I fumbled to get the thing back. Once I caught it, before it could hit the ground, I hurriedly brought it up close to my mouth.
"SPEAK AND BE HEARD."
"Demens!! What are you doing, you lunatic?! Are you trying to get yourself killed?!"
"Oh, you know how it is, Master. I've always had this dream of falling involuntarily from a time-traveling spaceship and skydive to my apparent death into some treetops and being stranded on a dangerous fictional island, just for the kick of it. It's fun, actually, you should try it sometime." "Sarcasm, you midget, sarcasm."
"I'm hanging up." "Don't you dare!"
"Speaking of which, why the bloody mary do I have a walkie-talkie in my pocket?!"
"Well, we couldn't take any chances of losing track of you again. So I took the liberty."
"Thank you for doing so. So, you got a plan, Masta' man?"
"That all depends. Where are you??"
"In an area of nature." "That's helpful. What can you see??"
"Trees." "Now I'm going to hang up on you... is that all?"
I looked back up at the sky. "I can see you."
"Really??....hold on."
Silence followed, so I decided to keep my focus on the T.A.R.D.I.S..
A moment later, one of the doors opened and out popped the Master, the only real thing I could see of him was his dark clothing and bleach blonde hair, and he waved a hand.
I couldn't see any other detail from that, but it was definitely him and he was definitely waving at me, and not the nearby mermaids.
I brought the device back up.
"Yep, I see you."
"About how far do you think you are?"
"Oh, hello Joker. I have no idea."
"C'mon." "I'm not good at measurements, okay?!"
"Never mind that. If you can see me, that means we're facing one another. We'll land at the edge of the forest. All you have to do is travel straight ahead until you meet us there. We'll be waiting."
"Do not abandon me, ok?"
"Do not abandon me, ok?"
"I'm can assure you, that won't be allowed, miss Demens."
"Aww, Bane!! Keep those three out've trouble for me, a'ight?"
He didn't respond, but he didn't have to.
"Alright, boys, I'll do my best. It shouldn't take me long, cuz at the distance you're at, you're not that far. Sar-Bear, over and out."
I clicked off my walkie-talkie to conserve the battery, and hooked it onto the back of my pants.
With one more shrug of the shoulders, I sighed, and took a step forward, but-
With one more shrug of the shoulders, I sighed, and took a step forward, but-
SNAP!
"AHHHHHHH!!!!"
My body flipped right over me in a split second, as I was hurled in a massive rush by my leg, straight up into the air. In only an instance, I stopped, and it was now that I dangled from a rope, attached to one of the nearby trees' limbs, and I stared at the ground, upside down.
I huffed and puffed, exasperated as ever, as I wondered what the beef just happened, but this only lasted a brief moment. I had set off a trap.
"JIGGLYPUFF!"
Foiled again.
I would've called for help, but given that I was already in danger once and no one came to my aid, even after I had already been standing there in the same area all that time afterwards, I was starting to develop a not-good feeling about just which Neverland we had stumbled upon.
But yeah....I dangled....and dangled.
If I was a cursing girl, one would have this entire scene muted.
So, so done.
"Well, well, lads.."
I jolted and nudged my head around to behind me, for I had been facing the tree; but this only wound up turning my whole body and I yelped as I, to my annoyance, began spinning.
"--What have we caught today?"
THAT VOICE.
I noticed, amid rotation, that darkened figures began to emerge from within the forest, behind trees in all directions. Figures of various sizes.
They were slowly approaching me, and I flailed my arms to try and stop myself, to get a chance to acquire my boot knife.
BUT I WOULDN'T STOP FRUITING SPINNING.
I panicked a little when I caught a glimpse of one of the figures, a bit lighter than the rest, coming right up to me.. and just as I spun a final time, that someone grabbed me by the shoulder and put a stop to me, halting my position in front of them.
My head was still in a daze as I carefully analyzed who it was I now faced, my mouth slowly running agape....and like that, I knew.
Peter Pan
But unfortunately for me...this wasn't the traditional Peter Pan.
Nope..this was the kind that was a spoiled, sadistic, cunning, creepy, wicked little brat.
Whom I like to call "Evil Pan".
For the love of sawdust; why was it that in all my experiences, so far, that every single discovery or introduction, that I had been waiting all that time to experience, ALL HAD TO BE PRESENTED TO ME BY A BUNCH OF BLOODY VILLAINS?!!?!
I groaned on the inside.
This little heathen infront of me simply grinned...wickedly..his essence full of pernicious..as he still had a tight hold on my shoulder.
He was precisely 5'9, gangly, dressed in old, dark green clothing that was obviously worn out from the time spent on the island. He had a soft, peachy complexion, short, shaggy brown hair, darkened green eyes, and heck yes, he was a cutie.
It would normally be weird to be attracted to Peter Pan, but this Pan was different.
In actuality, this Pan was a teenager. In fact, his actor, Robbie Kay, is precisely my age.
So a little crush is had, yes, get over it or get out.
My eyes cut at those around him.
Correctly assuming them to be the Lost Boys, my distressed expression deepened, especially when I turned my attention back to Pan.
"What have we here??" He spoke a bit more gently, in his young British accent, getting a little bit too close for my taste. Like, whoa, bro, only just met you.
From the first few episodes I saw of him before I moved on from that show, I knew that he was a major creepy flirt. In which case, great, another one. -_-
"Nothing, nothing, you have nothing, just an escaped penguin, leave me."
"My, my...." An even more gangly teenager purred behind him, sounding almost like a cat, who came into view with just a few short steps.
"--I do believe we have captured a girl, Pan...first one in years."
Aw man, not the weird awkward blondy!
Bleh..if you must know, that would be Felix. He was a tall, scrawny thing, with braided dirty blonde hair, clothing as old as Pan's that were terribly perforated and bedraggled...and a long dingy cloak, the hood usually always propped up on his head.
Among the rest of the Lost Boys, he was the loyal right hand of Pan, ready to do every single thing he asked without fail.
"Yeah, so I'm a female penguin.. good boy, you know something."
The crowd of pubescent youths all laughed; Pan's growing smile was worrisome.
"Aw, boys, looks like we have a jokester in our presence! I like her already!"
"No, don't like me, I'm weird, I'm awkward, I'm vicious, don't come closer, I'm contagious, I have a disease!!" "One of you, cut her down. All the blood's going to go to her head."
"GET CHYER HANDS OFF ME!" I yelped as they began to approach, me smacking them away.
"Ohhhhh, she's spirited." Felix sung with his craggy young voice.
I was going to kill him.
"Back off, delinquents!" I yelled, as I started to spin again.
Just as they were returning, I boosted up with sudden energy, sliding my knife right from my boot, which I then whipped out and used to slice the rope right above me.
It instantly snapped and I came crashing down, everyone previously too close to me now jumping back a few feet and staring down at me in surprise.
With them now scattered away, I bolted back up off my back and swung myself around with balletic precision, now perfectly facing Pan.
He rose his eyebrows in amusement, in what I hoped was a sign of him meaning to back off, but a slight smirk was visible from his stupid little mouth and I noticed that he was staring a bit too dreamily, and I think I only made him instantly fall in love.
CRAGGGGG.
I huffed at his height, him having a good four inches on me, and I bent down, sheathed my knife, popped back up, with hands at my sides.
"Well then." I sassed.
"As you can see from that brief preview, I am not the girliest girl out there, and if one of you tries to touch me again, I will inflict some serious damage on ya..trust me, I just got done killing an orc leader and several of his lackeys, then survived a dragon, so I am not in the mood for you lot's hoodlum little nonsense--mess with me and I will kick every single one of your scrawny teenage boy tails, and yes, I'm talking a lot, it happens when I get nervous or excited, not that I'm nervous around you, no, I'm excited, I've been panicky ever since I started this adventuring biz, and have been finding myself talking way more in a single breath than usual, which I am doing right now-- now if you will kindly get out've my way, I have companions to reunite with and I simply do not have time for your wild teenage shenanigans!"
"We know."
My face froze in a stunned expression. ".......What?"
Pan smirked once more. "We know. About your little companions. About your adventures. About you. We heard you talking on your little..magic box. To meet them at the end of the forest. Because you see...your majesty...we've been waiting for you."
It was here that I felt my face drop in temperature.
I couldn't handle the fact that he literally just revealed to me that he had been visited by the Others.
He stepped back slowly, one hand clutching onto his belt, the other letting itself out in a gesture.
"We've been on high alert for your arrival, queenie. I admit, I was hoping to get you alone, away from the idiots...and it appears fortune has smiled on me."
With this, he pointed at himself, teetering in deep mischievous intention.
"I take it you already know who I am?"
I couldn't help it. I had to show off.
"Peter Pan...and he's Felix..." I cut my eyes at blondy.
"And they're the Lost Boys." I gestured at the rest with a single wave of the hand.
"I know you from....well, never mind that. The real question is, how do you know me?"
At first, Pan looked a tad bit quizzical..but this expression turned to deviousness and he grinned a sly little grin, his cunning eyes narrowing a bit.
With a single finger to his glistening mouth, he made a 'shoosh' signal, which irked me.
"That can be left for another time...for now..let's get you somewhere a bit more comfortable."
"LIKE HECK!" I exclaimed, about to get out my weapon--
But a hand abruptly came from behind my head and just as I grabbed the owner's wrist to stop them, I realized they now had a damp rag atop my mouth, that I was instantly suffocating on, as a bitter, potent chemical escaped inside my mouth and drained down into my lungs..I almost immediately felt myself slipping from consciousness, as my legs began to cave from under me, and my eyes fluttered from opened to closed. Soon, I had fallen back, losing my balance, my rag-happy assailant catching me from behind.
The last thing I saw was Pan hovering his face over me and smiling wickedly.
"We're gonna have so much fun!" One boy joked in the background, which Pan grinned wide to.
Then, with a single fragile stroke to the side of my face, he chuckled even deeper.
"Let's play."
°°°°°°°°°
Let's play, indeed.
The ruffians had dragged my unconscious self back to their lair..and it was a yet-to-be-disclosed amount of time later that I regained consciousness and awoke at a dampy, acrid-smelling area, that was all rock as if it were the inside of a cave. My arms felt mega sore, so I could only guess that someone had dragged me from them and I was not amused.
"Wake up, queenie."
I squinted and rolled over, my clothes dirty and wet, but still, I couldn't complain too much.
Since Pan had set me on some bedding to give me a little bit of comfort.
My eyes now focused on the young fiend, who blocked my view of the wall behind him, that looked to be the only thing that was emanating light. As I was laying down, he towered over me, and once again had one hand perched onto his belt.
Half-consciously, I spouted out what was bothering my thoughts.
"With the way that you're acting, you better have not kissed me in my sleep..cuz I swear.."
But he only chuckled. "Don't flatter yourself. If I was to have my first kiss with anyone, it wouldn't be you."
ouch. that burned.
With his other hand, he pointed to a tray that was laying infront of me, full of unappealing fruits and a few scraps of meat. "Here you are."
I glared at it, distastefully..half of those fruits I would never eat in a million years, and the meat that was identifiable I was a bit picky on, since I only eat kosher...yeah, that's right. Preferably organic.
I'm healthy that way. Makes up for all the junk food.
I glared back at him, finally starting to have better control of my words.
"What's this about?"
"Well, I can't have my honored guest starving, can I?"
He turned away and rested against the wall, folding his arms.
His movement allowed me to see the wall now..beyond me was the exit.
A simple wooden door, with a small window at the top revealing the outside.
It also surprisingly had a sturdy looking locking system.
I looked back at him, "How long have I been out?"
"Oh, only about half an hour, I would say...can't quite tell anymore. Time is rather meaningless in a place where it stands still. I only got the general idea from your little devices.."
My brows furrowed.
"Yes. I have possession of them now. I removed all your weapons...all your toys...especially your little magic box you used to communicate with the others. Can't have you leading them here and causing me trouble." "Shove off, Pan. They'll find me eventually."
"Maybe...or maybe not. The last time I checked, it was the hero that comes to rescue the damsel. Unfortunately for you, you chose to put your trust in the villains. And I wager you won't be seeing them again.." "...So, what, I'm your prisoner now?"
Pan smirked, making his face glow with intrigue. "Well..if you want to call it that."
"Yeah. Right. Good luck with that."
"You are quite the fiery sort." "You have no idea."
He was silent for a minute.
I sat up and groaned, my side aching. I was still pained from my nasty descent down the treetops, but at least I didn't have too severe of injuries. Not enough to keep me bedridden.
"Okay..talk. Who told you about me?"
He made a half-bored, half-listening expression and looked away, sniffing here and there, obviously attempting to avoid the question. But I don't give up so easily.
"Spill it, pixie boy, or I'll make you spill it."
"Sounds fun." "NOW."
He looked back at me, his previous expression turning to one of sarcasm.
"Fine..I was told about you and your little 'friends' by a...visitor." He shifted at this, raising a brow, knowing it had intrigued me. My heart skipped a beat.
"Did he happen to have a black cloak?"
"Black cloak? No..but I won't tell who. They said you would be asking. Our deal involves discretion."
"Deal? You idiot; you made a deal with them?!"
"How could I not? What they offered was much too attractive to turn down."
"You're stupid!"
"I think not. Their price is very small."
"What price?"
"The price for my request."
I was about to spout out something like "and that is?"
but I immediately knew. I stared at him, a bit dumbfoundedly, my face tensing with realization.
"..me."
He slightly smirked, "That's right. Handing you over to them."
This time, my heart stopped. He sensed this, and began to pace.
"It's simple, really...they recruited me and my men (ahem, by men, you mean toddlers) to their little gathering.. with a promise to grant us all that we desire. They granted me knowledge of all that was out there. Including the knowledge that I am not the only Pan in the universe."
We glanced at eachother for a moment.
He continued, "After I heard this, I knew at once what I needed to do. What I am yet to do--destroy all the other Pans, so that I am the very last one standing."
"Dude, are you kidding me?! You're gonna commit genocide against yourself?!"
"Why not? I'm the only Pan there needs to be. How can one sleep at night, knowing there's others out there, impersonating him? Yes...I told them my request. And they have assured me they can make this happen."
"They're lying to you! They're bad guys, it's what they do!"
"And I'm not?" "You're a spoiled brat, is what you are."
He seemed to find this a little amusing and moved his eyes briefly to the floor.
"..Doesn't matter, really. I still have you. All I have to do is keep you here until they return. And hand you over for them to do what they wish." "You rotten little--!!!"
"Please, keep the kind words!"
"You really think they'll hold their end of the bargain? That they'll invite you into their little...whatever they are! You're more gullible than I am. I've seen how they keep their deals. They left their so-called 'recruits' to fend for themselves, and little by little, were destroying their world, while they were still IN it. They even have created beings to go and carry out their orders, only for them to either be killed or commit suicide, because they have no identity. They were nothing to them. They don't care about you."
"And you do?"
"..........yes..........more than them, anyway."
He contemplated this for a moment. "..Say what you want. You won't be changing my mind."
"ARGH!" I beat my first against the covered floor.
"Who else is in on this?! Don't tell me you've signed on with Hook--cuz that little slime shot cannonballs at me and caused me to fall down to this--this--heckhole."
Pan's teeth slightly showed in his smile, "The captain and I have a...mutual agreement."
"Mutual? You mean..he wants the same thing as you?"
He shrugged, "The deal benefits for us both. He didn't sound too pleased to have more than one of him out there, either. So, yes. We've joined together in this particular situation."
"You both have no idea what you're getting into .. please don't do this."
"Too late, love."
"For God's sake, I'm serious! I don't wanna wind up having to kill you both! I don't WANT to kill anyone, but you're leading me to having no choice. Look..forget about the other versions. Travel with me instead. You'll see. You don't HAVE to do all of this; we can have fun!"
"Your idea of fun is a lot different from mine." "Dang it, Pan, I'm WARNING YOU! Don't make me an enemy!" "Is that supposed to scare me?"
I groaned, frustratedly. "They're just using you! Can't you see that??? As soon as they get what they want..they'll destroy your world, with you in it."
"Try again, highness. You don't even know who you're dealing against yet. I know..and they have been very careful with what you find out. They don't want any surprises spoiled. They haven't even told me a lot of their secrets. I can assure you. You're the one that's met her match. Those orcs and that dragon were just the beginning. There are far more powerful and superior enemies that will be impossible for you to defeat. You will be the one that loses."
I was filled with so much inexplicable rage, I didn't even know what to even.
I didn't even know WHAT.
I DIDN'T EVEN.
"UGH!!"
Here, I tossed my arms up and grabbed both sides of my head.
"WHY ARE YOU NOT LISTENING?!"
He didn't answer. My heart was heavy.
I simmered down and held my aching forehead.
"..What do I expect, coming from Rumpelstiltskin's dad!"
I heard a quick shuffle. "What did you say?"
...hmm...
Slowly, my head and my eyes, lifted.
"...you heard me."
"Say that again!"
"That."
"Don't play games with me."
I tilted my head, "I thought you liked games?"
"Where did you hear that?"
"From my parents. They taught me a lot of words."
His fists curled. I decided to stop, "You....Rumpel's dad...duh?"
His head jerked. "Did he tell you that? Where did you hear that? TELL ME."
"Whoa, dude, chill. He didn't tell me, I've never even talked to him."
"Really? Did you 'deduce' it?"
Revealing to him that I saw him on TV and read about the nonsense through the internet was not an option.
"You can say that.."
"Well, you're wrong."
I sat in silence. Pan's face fluctuated with contempt, regarding this situation.
He looked rather uncertain...like he was struggling with himself on what to do next.
My brows raised, "This doesn't go well for your reputation, old man."
His eyes darted at me and his fists tightened until they turned all white.
"I am NOT an old man! Don't CALL me that!"
"I didn't necessarily see it, but I heard you gave up being an adult and a father to be young again."
"That's the biggest, filthiest LIE!!!"
Wowwwwww, I struck a nerve.
Apparently, I had pushed him over the edge.
His level of reluctance about giving anything about himself away decreased and finally, after awhile of inner confliction, he stepped towards a nearby chair, pulled it out and sat in it backwards, wrapping his arms around the backing, tightly. His devilish little eyes focused on me and all we wound up doing for the next few minutes was stare at eachother, as he studied me and I studied him.
Little unnerving, our little blinking contest, but I toughened it out, cuz I was quite frankly desperate to hear what he had to say. And hopefully get an idea on who and what I was dealing with.
Including any other juicy tidbits or secrets.
"Alright..." He finally spoke, his eyes lifting and twinkling, thoughtfully.
"Let me give you a little piece of my history, majesty.."
Heerreee we go. Long backstory alert.
"I wasn't always like this. Vengeful...secretive...dominant...I used to be a careless little boy."
Used to be?????
"I had lots of love and morals poured into me by my parents. From birth, they encouraged my adventurous, clever personality. I was their world. Their everything. And they were mine. It was just the three of us, all that time...I loved my life. I loved them both. Nothing could possibly go wrong.
"I had the grandest adventures; day and night, I would spend nearly all of my time with my one and only friend, Felix..and we'd have the most daring of battles, letting our imaginations take us away. To lands and worlds beyond our comprehension.......until one day....I came home....and it all changed.
Eight years old-- just eight --I came inside, and my parents just stood, waiting for me. These..stern looks stuck on their faces. Like I'd done something wrong. My father wants to have a little talk. Tells me it's important. They sat me down infront of them..both were so cold and emotionless, it made me uncomfortable. It was as if the life in them had just vanished. And in a few moments, my whole world was shattered; they told me I needed to grow up. I needed to stop pretending. Stop playing. I was starting to get too old for games. That using my imagination was for children, and they tried to convince me that I was no longer a child.
"As I started to cry, my father shook me and made me stop..making me wipe my own tears away. Father told me that men don't cry....the next day, they told me their plans. They were sending me to the best school. Put me in a suit..shipping me off to the finest classes..so that any wild belief or single imaginative bone in my body would be quenched. They made me practical. I would turn into a gentleman..I would learn to be sober, and logical. To be disciplined. Having the most extravagant and refined knowledge any Englishman could ask for. . . . they took away all my toys and sold them, replacing them with schoolbooks. My play clothes were thrown out, replaced by more suitable attire. For most of my days following, I learned to be proper. I learned to prepare for my schoolwork and learning things that no eight year old has to learn so soon. All to become a man...the true end of my childhood. I barely had any time to see Felix anymore. They didn't find him proper enough, being such a wild child, such as what I used to be.
"My parents began to completely change themselves. They attended the finest events-- parties, galas, balls, celebrations regarding my father and his colleagues' work. They would drag me along with them, showing me off to their wealthy associates, parading me around town like the newest attraction to a carnival. Suddenly, I hated my life. I hated them. I grew sick of everything. Nothing I tried to say mattered. And when I did, I was punished. They were consumed with this new lifestyle and the idea of transforming me. For two years, I put up with it all as best as I possibly could. Creating a mask to display for others, whenever they talked to me..a mask any suitable gentleman would wear, when he's trying to hide his true feelings. On the inside..I was full of fire. Rage. With each day, I loathed my parents even more.
"My tenth birthday finally came. I sought out the chance to get away from the house by asking my parents to go and buy myself a present. Seeing this to be a perfect opportunity to show the people I was a man, they let me go alone. I left. But not to any store. Not to anywhere else in that town. I left. My parents. My life. Staying out of sight, no one to question or come after me, I left everything. For the first time in two years, I was free.
"It wasn't long before I began to need things. I knew I was able to look after myself, without becoming a savage, but to what extent? There were essentials, like food, clothes, water, that I couldn't just grab on my own. I tried begging. Didn't work...there were a few who tried to get me sent to the orphanage. I couldn't get a job, either. The adults would have confined me and tried to shape my personality the same way the others did. The only choice I had was to let all of my teachings of being proper, civilized, refined....go. Morals only proved themselves to me to be inventions of adults. Things that 'ladies' and 'gentlemen' use to separate themselves from their true child-like nature.......so I burned them inside me. Proper Peter was no more. In no time at all, I embraced the arts of theft and manipulation, and it wasn't just for what I needed anymore. I took what I wanted. Used who I wanted. Making others do things for me, as if I was controlling them. I found I had a gift...I put others under my spell. They just couldn't resist. I became what nature intended. I quenched what the world had shaped me into-- and I became better."
After all this, he rose from his chair, once again standing over me, looking down with fierceness and pointing an authoritative finger at himself. "The world you come from is the one I abandoned. You can call me a savage...but I simply have become what my past turned me into. Free."
Sociopath, more like it.
His attitude subsided a bit, and he backed up a couple small steps.
"Eventually, as you can suspect, I left my world. How?....huh......simple. It was all because of a little fairy."
He paced.
"She found me one day, wandering the back woods of a nearby village. I had a rough day..things weren't going so well, and she saw this. The pain of watching me struggle alone was too much for her, so she revealed herself. She comforted me. When I was much smaller, my mother told me that fairies existed. And after those two years, in spite of her, I still believed it. So it wasn't too surprising for me when a fairy finally turned up. After we became acquainted, I told her my story. And she told me her's. She had been banished by her kind for trying to help someone...and she made a distant island her new home. Neverland. I asked her if I could come there....at first, she argued it wouldn't be a good idea. But I'm persistent. With enough asking, she finally let me come. And we were off. And the adjustment to this new world wasn't really that hard. Neverland wasn't all too different..apart from the fairy residing there..all the pixie dust...and the case that anyone living on the island, or at least the ones staying long enough..never aged.......but you knew that, didn't you?" "Sure."
He flickered a cocky eyebrow. "Well..............I began to realize my new home needed something. I was lonely. Apart from her, I had no one else to play with. And because of that emptiness, I found myself going back. Back to my world..back to home. Little had changed about it...and little had changed about my parents. I looked into the window..my window..into my room. What did I see? I saw them...sitting there...happy....laughing...they were more happier than they had even been with me. And they were holding something........a child. A small boy. They had another son...and replaced me. Not five years had passed since I left, and they'd forgotten all about me. And in that moment, I was filled with a new rage. A brand new fire had ignited. I hated them more than ever. But most of all, I hated that boy. That tiny wiggling larva who had taken my place...stole my home...I wanted them to suffer. Wanted him to suffer. He might have been my brother, but I wanted him dead. So I left. And I never went back.
"I made up my mind that day. That I would never, EVER trust anyone.. love anyone.. ever again. A new lesson was learned; the only one to depend on was myself. But that's not all I realized. I needed playmates, yes, but not just playmates. I was a leader. I liked leading. It made me feel power...so why not enforce it upon others? Others that I could control. On that day, I vowed to myself, that I would go to as many children as possible, and I would take them away from the lies forced upon them. I would bring them freedom and help them escape. No more adults. No more rules. No more growing up.
"I started with Felix. After five years of not seeing him, he had changed. They had forced him to go to school and learn, like me. And the poor thing almost seemed hopeless, talking to me about what was logical and reasonable...that I should return home and reunite with my parents. Get to know my baby brother. So, to shut him up..I forced him to return to the island with me. I kept him here..gradually changing his thoughts...shaping him into what I wanted. And slowly, he flourished once again as the boy I once knew. We finally both saw eye-to-eye, realizing what we both had to do."
Pan had wandered the room the entire time he spoke..and as he finished his little backstory, he turned back to me, leaning his arm against the wall.
"It's been centuries since then...last I heard, something happened to my parents. What, I don't know...I didn't bother to find out. Someone else had taken my brother. Eventually, he wound up in another realm. Believe me, I had my men search, and search, but they never could. I knew the truth. He was gone. I lost track of him....until, years later, I realized that it was none other than the infamous Rumpelstiltskin that was my long-lost brother. If I didn't hate the man so much, I would've been proud of his exploits."
My head pointed down and I gazed at my clasped hands, trying to replay the story in my head to pick out the important parts that might actually become useful.
"So........all those boys......are the ones you kidnapped?"
"..I told you. I set them free." "Set them free..." I nodded, briefly curling my lips back, almost mocking his comment. "..how?"
My eyes lifted and I turned my head at him. "You brainwashed them. Turned them into monsters, just like you. Tell me-- were they MISERABLE and hating their life, too, when you found them? Or did you just...take them..no questions asked?" "Don't turn this around."
"No, YOU don't turn this around. Don't play the victim crap, like you had no other choice. I'm sorry you went through that, I really am. Sorry that your parents were SERIOUS bad words. But what you went through is no excuse to just go and make everyone else's lives a living hell. I've went through crap, too, BELIEVE me. I've been hurt by people. Betrayed, forced into things, punched in the face more times than I can count. But you don't see me taking it out on everyone else and making them suffer. Not everyone's like your parents. There are good people, who love their kids, and allow them to become what they want. But you didn't think about that, did you? You just chose to rip kids away from their families--their lives--and ruined them. Forcing them to think like you. As far as I'm concerned, you're not different from your parents. In fact....huh.....what you do isn't too far off from what they did to you..is it?"
Pan only stared at me, for what seemed like the rest of the night.
After awhile, he began to take deep, rapid breaths, and before long, he stepped towards me.
"They aren't your friends, you know....they've never been, and they never will be. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if they've already abandoned you."
I didn't flinch..but his words made me speak softer,
"We have our own agreement. They're not leaving me."
He then laughed, mockingly, and it made my ears sting and stomach ache.
"Look at you! Putting your faith in villains! It's adorable, really."
At that moment, he bent low, resting his forearms against his crouched legs, and he got up a little too close, his crazy expressive eyebrows raising a bit as his mouth cheerfully hung open.
The way he was staring, I already felt violated. This honestly was worse than Jim, and that's saying a lot.
"Honestly...you truly believe you're ever going back home? After everything you've done..everything you've seen? Your family is never going to want you back. And even if you did, by the time that happened, they wouldn't be able to recognize you....you won't be able to recognize yourself. Just give it time. You'll become a monster like the rest of us....you'll see......you've already begun."
His hand lifted and gently, he held my chin with his thumb and index finger.
It brought me shivers, wondering what villainous thing he was intending to do to me.
"...All you are now....is a lost girl."
My heart instantly sank.
"...make yourself at home, love.." He then leaned forward a bit and I was fully ready to smash my fist into his pretty little face...but he suddenly deviated from the course and brought his head next to mine.
"....you fit right in."
He said this in a harsh, chilling whisper....which also stung.
He then leaned back, made a little heartless laugh, and rose back up, chuckling all the while.
After giving me one more minute of staring, he started back for the door.
"You can stop waiting on your boyfriends now. Even if they haven't left yet...they will when I'm through with them... And then your only hope will be gone."
My fists clenched tightly, and I found myself jerking my body forward.
"You keep away, you slime!!" It was a bitter yell, but it was fruitless.
He had already opened and closed the door, peeking at me from the small bit of window.
And through it, I could see his wicked little smile, that never lost it's effect.
"Sweet dreams, princess."
And he was gone.
Even 10 minutes passing didn't change my sorry state.
I couldn't breathe. Eyes burning, trying not to shed tears..my heart refusing to beat..my head banging from being hot and compressed...all I could do to keep from breaking down was lay my head on the pillow and stare with watery eyes at the door, as I remained completely shattered and hopeless.
His words lingered in the air, haunting me, as if he never even left.
He was right.......I really am a lost girl.
- - -
I got roughly an hour of dreamless sleep before an image broke out of the darkness..
and suddenly, I was in the forest. In Neverland.
And I was running.
This wasn't a prophetic vision, thank God. This was an actual legit dream.
The kind everyone has; which was refreshing.
I was running so fast and so far.
I remember someone being fast on my tail, but at the time, I just couldn't figure out who.
I came, finally, to an open area. The setting sun showed itself through the wide space in the trees to my left.
The ground was now broken and continued across from me, to the other side of a huge, stretched out ditch.
This should have been a river, but the only water present served as a weak little stream, that made a pleasant little trickling sound. All around were beautiful fireflies, that flickered on and off with their mesmerizing golden glow. They all seemed to be congregating in one direction, to my right.
Seeming as if they wanted me to go that way.
I suddenly heard the sounds of my pursuer come fast and close behind me, so I quickly jumped down and followed the army of fireflies, who did indeed want me to follow them, as they began blinking repeatedly before swarming in the same direction ahead of me.
I was running so fast, trudging through the stream of cold water, that I almost tripped.
Before I could see what the fireflies were leading me to, I felt a hand grasp the back of my shirt..
and before I could breathe, I was thrown to the ground.
Water splashed violently and came back all over me, making me gasp for air as it attempted to enter my lungs. I squeezed my eyes, briefly, then I looked behind me only to see who my attacker was....Pan.
The horrible teenager got a better hold on me and tried to drag me back, but I fought him off.
Kicking him right in the general not-nice-area, he fell back and I jumped ahead of him.
I heard a shuffle behind, guessing only that he was in pursuit again, when an even greater splash occurred, and I couldn't help but look behind as I continued on.
Someone had tackled Pan and had held him back, the young villain trying his best to fight him off..
someone with shaggy black hair, and dark clothing.
I knew this guy..I knew this guy from somewhere.
It's obvious he's the dark-haired mystery boy who I saw in my visions.
Who watched me at the Dairy Queen back home. Who jumped infront of me at Pizza Hut and told me to run, seconds before I was kidnapped by the boys. And here he was, saving me in a perfectly normal dream. . . . . I have seen him before.
It was him. The man I've been dreaming about since I was 15. The same guy who's face I can't see...who's always saving me...every time he's around, I feel happy. Safe. He makes me feel like everything's gonna be okay. I knew now that the mystery boy from this whole debacle and my dream boy that I confessedly have fallen in total love with were one and the same.
But the key question remains....who is he?
Mystery Boy was throwing mighty skilled punches at Pan, doing a very fine job at holding him back.
I took the opportunity he, like a proper gentleman, had held for me, and sped like a cheetah after the glowing bugs. They had all been waiting for me a short distance away, and immediately picked the trail back up as I got closer.
A few minutes later, we arrived at the destination they were leading me to.
I looked up above me at a huge tower, that was completely foreign to the rest of the island.
It was grey, but shiny and blinding, and very metal.
My eyes lifted to the top of the tower and all's I could see were four men...my men.
My companions.
They were flagging me down, urging me to hurry and get up there.
But as they began to shout, my hearing cut off and they froze.
In fact, all sounds had muted and everything was suddenly still.
I could hear and feel nothing.
And in an instant, a shock came to me, and I shut my eyes as everything around me closed in, back into darkness, and I felt my body fly like I had caught on to a mighty breeze...
- - -
I was awoken by the rather loud voices coming from outside, and obnoxious laughter that made me want to stuff my head underneath the pillow. My eyes didn't take much time adjusting to the light, cuz there really wasn't much light to speak of.
That dream was rather clear. I needed to get out of here.
I would never admit it to him, but Pan was right.
I couldn't trust the others. They might have already left without me. Even not, I didn't wanna give them any longer of a chance to do so.
I brought my legs around the bedding, rubbed my sore eyes and took a deep breath.
Rising up and stepping to the door, I peeked out the window..which was a feat, considering it was tall and I'm not. I saw that Pan had built himself a little jail area, that had sturdy walls around the cave-like cell, from what I could see. I looked to my right, where a small table sat and all of my things rested on top of it.
I looked to my left and there sat the gate leading to true freedom, that was all iron bars in an otherwise stone surrounding. I looked back infront of me and forced myself to stand a little higher, tip-booting my best to the top. Pan wasn't all that smart. He only had two 'guards' standing watch outside.
Both looked no older than 14-15 years old.
I lowered myself back down and rested my forehead against the door, as I contemplated on what to do.
If you didn't already get the impression, being imprisoned sucks.
I don't know why bad guys choose to be bad guys, when this is inevitably where they end up.
Sure, at the moment, being a good guy was no picnic, either.. but it's not like junk happened all the time.
It usually only happens when I let myself get caught....which I really need to learn to stop from happening.
Due to my returning headache, it hurt too much to think, so I retreated back to my bedding and held my head. This became me resting my face against my leg.
This became me digging my chin atop my knee.
This became me getting an idea.
I took a couple of berries and stuffed them under my blanket.
I waited a few minutes to successfully make myself appear more drained and groggy, like something was wrong. When I felt prepared enough, I stood up and stumbled over to the door.
"Hello.....hello?"
My voice lowered to a very cracked, weak half-whisper.
A face appeared..one of the teens was tall enough to look through the window with ease.
Lucky duck.
"..What?" He said, rudely.
I made it appear that it was difficult to swallow.
"--I---I need to see Pan---I---I don't feel---so good--"
"Drink some water."
"..It's dirty." "Go on, then."
I huffed on the inside and walked back to my tray, rolling my eyes when he wasn't looking.
I turned my back to the kid and took hold of my cup of yucky water.
Before I brought it up to my face and pretend to drink, I quickly splashed it silently onto the bedding as I lifted it up, so I didn't actually have to digest anything.
I set the cup down and held my hot head.
"Well?"
"..ugghhh...no change...I feel so hot...my head hurts..."
"Then get some sleep."
It took all that was in me not to yell.
"Sleep didn't help...I've been sleeping for an hour."
"Then eat!"
Here, I turned and showed him that two berries were missing.
"I took a couple of berries...could they have been poisonous?!"
Cue panicked expression.
He rolled his eyes. "You'll be fine. Those aren't poisonous. Get some more sleep."
He turned away. Some gentleman.
I scowled.
Very well then. Time to get dramatic, and pull dem training years of acting to good use!
I sat back on my bedding and waited a few more minutes...
before..
cough
cough
cough cough!
Cough Cough Cough!
I gagged. I wheezed. I coughed more forcefully.
More desperately.
I whimpered in between those coughs and once I saw that the kid was looking, I made my body tremble, and held my face as I pretended to hold back my fake series of gags and chokes.
I threw in some desperate gasping-fish breathing and gradually started to sound like something actually was wrong with me...
As he started to show signs of panic, I bent down, holding my stomach, gagging my way to freedom.
Eventually, I fell, appearing as though I had lost the battle.
I 'passed out'.
The teen shouted and yelled at his friend, hurriedly playing with the door.
Then bunk! The door swung open.
I know because I was keeping my eyes open only a slit to monitor the two.
The one ran up to me, yelling at the other to keep watch. He crouched down and laid a hand on the side of my throat. "Miss!! Miss!!"
And I actually felt a little sorry for what I was about to do to him.
I suddenly clasped his face, covering his mouth, and pivoted him around, twisting his body backwards, until I kicked his lifting legs in from behind, bringing his knees to the ground, where I took his weapon and hit him HARD on the head. This caused him to fall, unconscious, and the act only took a mere two seconds.
Next, I grabbed the tray, dumping it of it's contents as I did so, and sped right up to the other Lost Boy, who quickly turned at the noise, but unfortunately for him, was only greeted with a tray to the face.
This made him stagger back, holding his nose in pain, before I grabbed his throat, spinning him around, and putting him in a headlock, squeezing with just enough pressure to make him choke for air.
Eventually, he passed out.
I let his body fall, then dragged him by the arms back inside.
I disarmed them both, tossing their weapons outside the cell, and stole away the keys, where I grabbed the doorknob, shut it closed, and locked it good and tight.
After throwing the keys over the wall into the trees, I turned and ran to my stuff.
Equipping myself good and proper once more.
Once that was taken care of, I turned to the gate and swung it open.
It did so with ease, revealing the open running space beyond.
I gave the cell one last glance, as I smirked satisfyingly, and stepped through the prison grounds.
Take that, MacGyver.
I jolted and nudged my head around to behind me, for I had been facing the tree; but this only wound up turning my whole body and I yelped as I, to my annoyance, began spinning.
"--What have we caught today?"
THAT VOICE.
I noticed, amid rotation, that darkened figures began to emerge from within the forest, behind trees in all directions. Figures of various sizes.
They were slowly approaching me, and I flailed my arms to try and stop myself, to get a chance to acquire my boot knife.
BUT I WOULDN'T STOP FRUITING SPINNING.
I panicked a little when I caught a glimpse of one of the figures, a bit lighter than the rest, coming right up to me.. and just as I spun a final time, that someone grabbed me by the shoulder and put a stop to me, halting my position in front of them.
My head was still in a daze as I carefully analyzed who it was I now faced, my mouth slowly running agape....and like that, I knew.
Peter Pan
But unfortunately for me...this wasn't the traditional Peter Pan.
Nope..this was the kind that was a spoiled, sadistic, cunning, creepy, wicked little brat.
Whom I like to call "Evil Pan".
For the love of sawdust; why was it that in all my experiences, so far, that every single discovery or introduction, that I had been waiting all that time to experience, ALL HAD TO BE PRESENTED TO ME BY A BUNCH OF BLOODY VILLAINS?!!?!
I groaned on the inside.
This little heathen infront of me simply grinned...wickedly..his essence full of pernicious..as he still had a tight hold on my shoulder.
He was precisely 5'9, gangly, dressed in old, dark green clothing that was obviously worn out from the time spent on the island. He had a soft, peachy complexion, short, shaggy brown hair, darkened green eyes, and heck yes, he was a cutie.
It would normally be weird to be attracted to Peter Pan, but this Pan was different.
In actuality, this Pan was a teenager. In fact, his actor, Robbie Kay, is precisely my age.
So a little crush is had, yes, get over it or get out.
My eyes cut at those around him.
Correctly assuming them to be the Lost Boys, my distressed expression deepened, especially when I turned my attention back to Pan.
"What have we here??" He spoke a bit more gently, in his young British accent, getting a little bit too close for my taste. Like, whoa, bro, only just met you.
From the first few episodes I saw of him before I moved on from that show, I knew that he was a major creepy flirt. In which case, great, another one. -_-
"Nothing, nothing, you have nothing, just an escaped penguin, leave me."
"My, my...." An even more gangly teenager purred behind him, sounding almost like a cat, who came into view with just a few short steps.
"--I do believe we have captured a girl, Pan...first one in years."
Bleh..if you must know, that would be Felix. He was a tall, scrawny thing, with braided dirty blonde hair, clothing as old as Pan's that were terribly perforated and bedraggled...and a long dingy cloak, the hood usually always propped up on his head.
Among the rest of the Lost Boys, he was the loyal right hand of Pan, ready to do every single thing he asked without fail.
"Yeah, so I'm a female penguin.. good boy, you know something."
The crowd of pubescent youths all laughed; Pan's growing smile was worrisome.
"Aw, boys, looks like we have a jokester in our presence! I like her already!"
"No, don't like me, I'm weird, I'm awkward, I'm vicious, don't come closer, I'm contagious, I have a disease!!" "One of you, cut her down. All the blood's going to go to her head."
"GET CHYER HANDS OFF ME!" I yelped as they began to approach, me smacking them away.
"Ohhhhh, she's spirited." Felix sung with his craggy young voice.
I was going to kill him.
"Back off, delinquents!" I yelled, as I started to spin again.
Just as they were returning, I boosted up with sudden energy, sliding my knife right from my boot, which I then whipped out and used to slice the rope right above me.
It instantly snapped and I came crashing down, everyone previously too close to me now jumping back a few feet and staring down at me in surprise.
With them now scattered away, I bolted back up off my back and swung myself around with balletic precision, now perfectly facing Pan.
He rose his eyebrows in amusement, in what I hoped was a sign of him meaning to back off, but a slight smirk was visible from his stupid little mouth and I noticed that he was staring a bit too dreamily, and I think I only made him instantly fall in love.
CRAGGGGG.
I huffed at his height, him having a good four inches on me, and I bent down, sheathed my knife, popped back up, with hands at my sides.
"Well then." I sassed.
"As you can see from that brief preview, I am not the girliest girl out there, and if one of you tries to touch me again, I will inflict some serious damage on ya..trust me, I just got done killing an orc leader and several of his lackeys, then survived a dragon, so I am not in the mood for you lot's hoodlum little nonsense--mess with me and I will kick every single one of your scrawny teenage boy tails, and yes, I'm talking a lot, it happens when I get nervous or excited, not that I'm nervous around you, no, I'm excited, I've been panicky ever since I started this adventuring biz, and have been finding myself talking way more in a single breath than usual, which I am doing right now-- now if you will kindly get out've my way, I have companions to reunite with and I simply do not have time for your wild teenage shenanigans!"
"We know."
My face froze in a stunned expression. ".......What?"
Pan smirked once more. "We know. About your little companions. About your adventures. About you. We heard you talking on your little..magic box. To meet them at the end of the forest. Because you see...your majesty...we've been waiting for you."
It was here that I felt my face drop in temperature.
I couldn't handle the fact that he literally just revealed to me that he had been visited by the Others.
He stepped back slowly, one hand clutching onto his belt, the other letting itself out in a gesture.
"We've been on high alert for your arrival, queenie. I admit, I was hoping to get you alone, away from the idiots...and it appears fortune has smiled on me."
With this, he pointed at himself, teetering in deep mischievous intention.
"I take it you already know who I am?"
I couldn't help it. I had to show off.
"Peter Pan...and he's Felix..." I cut my eyes at blondy.
"And they're the Lost Boys." I gestured at the rest with a single wave of the hand.
"I know you from....well, never mind that. The real question is, how do you know me?"
At first, Pan looked a tad bit quizzical..but this expression turned to deviousness and he grinned a sly little grin, his cunning eyes narrowing a bit.
With a single finger to his glistening mouth, he made a 'shoosh' signal, which irked me.
"That can be left for another time...for now..let's get you somewhere a bit more comfortable."
"LIKE HECK!" I exclaimed, about to get out my weapon--
But a hand abruptly came from behind my head and just as I grabbed the owner's wrist to stop them, I realized they now had a damp rag atop my mouth, that I was instantly suffocating on, as a bitter, potent chemical escaped inside my mouth and drained down into my lungs..I almost immediately felt myself slipping from consciousness, as my legs began to cave from under me, and my eyes fluttered from opened to closed. Soon, I had fallen back, losing my balance, my rag-happy assailant catching me from behind.
The last thing I saw was Pan hovering his face over me and smiling wickedly.
"We're gonna have so much fun!" One boy joked in the background, which Pan grinned wide to.
Then, with a single fragile stroke to the side of my face, he chuckled even deeper.
"Let's play."
°°°°°°°°°
Let's play, indeed.
The ruffians had dragged my unconscious self back to their lair..and it was a yet-to-be-disclosed amount of time later that I regained consciousness and awoke at a dampy, acrid-smelling area, that was all rock as if it were the inside of a cave. My arms felt mega sore, so I could only guess that someone had dragged me from them and I was not amused.
"Wake up, queenie."
I squinted and rolled over, my clothes dirty and wet, but still, I couldn't complain too much.
Since Pan had set me on some bedding to give me a little bit of comfort.
My eyes now focused on the young fiend, who blocked my view of the wall behind him, that looked to be the only thing that was emanating light. As I was laying down, he towered over me, and once again had one hand perched onto his belt.
Half-consciously, I spouted out what was bothering my thoughts.
"With the way that you're acting, you better have not kissed me in my sleep..cuz I swear.."
But he only chuckled. "Don't flatter yourself. If I was to have my first kiss with anyone, it wouldn't be you."
ouch. that burned.
With his other hand, he pointed to a tray that was laying infront of me, full of unappealing fruits and a few scraps of meat. "Here you are."
I glared at it, distastefully..half of those fruits I would never eat in a million years, and the meat that was identifiable I was a bit picky on, since I only eat kosher...yeah, that's right. Preferably organic.
I'm healthy that way. Makes up for all the junk food.
I glared back at him, finally starting to have better control of my words.
"What's this about?"
"Well, I can't have my honored guest starving, can I?"
He turned away and rested against the wall, folding his arms.
His movement allowed me to see the wall now..beyond me was the exit.
A simple wooden door, with a small window at the top revealing the outside.
It also surprisingly had a sturdy looking locking system.
I looked back at him, "How long have I been out?"
"Oh, only about half an hour, I would say...can't quite tell anymore. Time is rather meaningless in a place where it stands still. I only got the general idea from your little devices.."
My brows furrowed.
"Yes. I have possession of them now. I removed all your weapons...all your toys...especially your little magic box you used to communicate with the others. Can't have you leading them here and causing me trouble." "Shove off, Pan. They'll find me eventually."
"Maybe...or maybe not. The last time I checked, it was the hero that comes to rescue the damsel. Unfortunately for you, you chose to put your trust in the villains. And I wager you won't be seeing them again.." "...So, what, I'm your prisoner now?"
Pan smirked, making his face glow with intrigue. "Well..if you want to call it that."
"Yeah. Right. Good luck with that."
"You are quite the fiery sort." "You have no idea."
He was silent for a minute.
I sat up and groaned, my side aching. I was still pained from my nasty descent down the treetops, but at least I didn't have too severe of injuries. Not enough to keep me bedridden.
"Okay..talk. Who told you about me?"
He made a half-bored, half-listening expression and looked away, sniffing here and there, obviously attempting to avoid the question. But I don't give up so easily.
"Spill it, pixie boy, or I'll make you spill it."
"Sounds fun." "NOW."
He looked back at me, his previous expression turning to one of sarcasm.
"Fine..I was told about you and your little 'friends' by a...visitor." He shifted at this, raising a brow, knowing it had intrigued me. My heart skipped a beat.
"Did he happen to have a black cloak?"
"Black cloak? No..but I won't tell who. They said you would be asking. Our deal involves discretion."
"Deal? You idiot; you made a deal with them?!"
"How could I not? What they offered was much too attractive to turn down."
"You're stupid!"
"I think not. Their price is very small."
"What price?"
"The price for my request."
I was about to spout out something like "and that is?"
but I immediately knew. I stared at him, a bit dumbfoundedly, my face tensing with realization.
"..me."
He slightly smirked, "That's right. Handing you over to them."
This time, my heart stopped. He sensed this, and began to pace.
"It's simple, really...they recruited me and my men (ahem, by men, you mean toddlers) to their little gathering.. with a promise to grant us all that we desire. They granted me knowledge of all that was out there. Including the knowledge that I am not the only Pan in the universe."
We glanced at eachother for a moment.
He continued, "After I heard this, I knew at once what I needed to do. What I am yet to do--destroy all the other Pans, so that I am the very last one standing."
"Dude, are you kidding me?! You're gonna commit genocide against yourself?!"
"Why not? I'm the only Pan there needs to be. How can one sleep at night, knowing there's others out there, impersonating him? Yes...I told them my request. And they have assured me they can make this happen."
"They're lying to you! They're bad guys, it's what they do!"
"And I'm not?" "You're a spoiled brat, is what you are."
He seemed to find this a little amusing and moved his eyes briefly to the floor.
"..Doesn't matter, really. I still have you. All I have to do is keep you here until they return. And hand you over for them to do what they wish." "You rotten little--!!!"
"Please, keep the kind words!"
"You really think they'll hold their end of the bargain? That they'll invite you into their little...whatever they are! You're more gullible than I am. I've seen how they keep their deals. They left their so-called 'recruits' to fend for themselves, and little by little, were destroying their world, while they were still IN it. They even have created beings to go and carry out their orders, only for them to either be killed or commit suicide, because they have no identity. They were nothing to them. They don't care about you."
"And you do?"
"..........yes..........more than them, anyway."
He contemplated this for a moment. "..Say what you want. You won't be changing my mind."
"ARGH!" I beat my first against the covered floor.
"Who else is in on this?! Don't tell me you've signed on with Hook--cuz that little slime shot cannonballs at me and caused me to fall down to this--this--heckhole."
Pan's teeth slightly showed in his smile, "The captain and I have a...mutual agreement."
"Mutual? You mean..he wants the same thing as you?"
He shrugged, "The deal benefits for us both. He didn't sound too pleased to have more than one of him out there, either. So, yes. We've joined together in this particular situation."
"You both have no idea what you're getting into .. please don't do this."
"Too late, love."
"For God's sake, I'm serious! I don't wanna wind up having to kill you both! I don't WANT to kill anyone, but you're leading me to having no choice. Look..forget about the other versions. Travel with me instead. You'll see. You don't HAVE to do all of this; we can have fun!"
"Your idea of fun is a lot different from mine." "Dang it, Pan, I'm WARNING YOU! Don't make me an enemy!" "Is that supposed to scare me?"
I groaned, frustratedly. "They're just using you! Can't you see that??? As soon as they get what they want..they'll destroy your world, with you in it."
"Try again, highness. You don't even know who you're dealing against yet. I know..and they have been very careful with what you find out. They don't want any surprises spoiled. They haven't even told me a lot of their secrets. I can assure you. You're the one that's met her match. Those orcs and that dragon were just the beginning. There are far more powerful and superior enemies that will be impossible for you to defeat. You will be the one that loses."
I was filled with so much inexplicable rage, I didn't even know what to even.
I didn't even know WHAT.
I DIDN'T EVEN.
"UGH!!"
Here, I tossed my arms up and grabbed both sides of my head.
"WHY ARE YOU NOT LISTENING?!"
He didn't answer. My heart was heavy.
I simmered down and held my aching forehead.
"..What do I expect, coming from Rumpelstiltskin's dad!"
I heard a quick shuffle. "What did you say?"
...hmm...
Slowly, my head and my eyes, lifted.
"...you heard me."
"Say that again!"
"That."
"Don't play games with me."
I tilted my head, "I thought you liked games?"
"Where did you hear that?"
"From my parents. They taught me a lot of words."
His fists curled. I decided to stop, "You....Rumpel's dad...duh?"
His head jerked. "Did he tell you that? Where did you hear that? TELL ME."
"Whoa, dude, chill. He didn't tell me, I've never even talked to him."
"Really? Did you 'deduce' it?"
Revealing to him that I saw him on TV and read about the nonsense through the internet was not an option.
"You can say that.."
"Well, you're wrong."
I sat in silence. Pan's face fluctuated with contempt, regarding this situation.
He looked rather uncertain...like he was struggling with himself on what to do next.
My brows raised, "This doesn't go well for your reputation, old man."
His eyes darted at me and his fists tightened until they turned all white.
"I am NOT an old man! Don't CALL me that!"
"I didn't necessarily see it, but I heard you gave up being an adult and a father to be young again."
"That's the biggest, filthiest LIE!!!"
Wowwwwww, I struck a nerve.
Apparently, I had pushed him over the edge.
His level of reluctance about giving anything about himself away decreased and finally, after awhile of inner confliction, he stepped towards a nearby chair, pulled it out and sat in it backwards, wrapping his arms around the backing, tightly. His devilish little eyes focused on me and all we wound up doing for the next few minutes was stare at eachother, as he studied me and I studied him.
Little unnerving, our little blinking contest, but I toughened it out, cuz I was quite frankly desperate to hear what he had to say. And hopefully get an idea on who and what I was dealing with.
Including any other juicy tidbits or secrets.
"Alright..." He finally spoke, his eyes lifting and twinkling, thoughtfully.
"Let me give you a little piece of my history, majesty.."
Heerreee we go. Long backstory alert.
"I wasn't always like this. Vengeful...secretive...dominant...I used to be a careless little boy."
Used to be?????
"I had lots of love and morals poured into me by my parents. From birth, they encouraged my adventurous, clever personality. I was their world. Their everything. And they were mine. It was just the three of us, all that time...I loved my life. I loved them both. Nothing could possibly go wrong.
"I had the grandest adventures; day and night, I would spend nearly all of my time with my one and only friend, Felix..and we'd have the most daring of battles, letting our imaginations take us away. To lands and worlds beyond our comprehension.......until one day....I came home....and it all changed.
Eight years old-- just eight --I came inside, and my parents just stood, waiting for me. These..stern looks stuck on their faces. Like I'd done something wrong. My father wants to have a little talk. Tells me it's important. They sat me down infront of them..both were so cold and emotionless, it made me uncomfortable. It was as if the life in them had just vanished. And in a few moments, my whole world was shattered; they told me I needed to grow up. I needed to stop pretending. Stop playing. I was starting to get too old for games. That using my imagination was for children, and they tried to convince me that I was no longer a child.
"As I started to cry, my father shook me and made me stop..making me wipe my own tears away. Father told me that men don't cry....the next day, they told me their plans. They were sending me to the best school. Put me in a suit..shipping me off to the finest classes..so that any wild belief or single imaginative bone in my body would be quenched. They made me practical. I would turn into a gentleman..I would learn to be sober, and logical. To be disciplined. Having the most extravagant and refined knowledge any Englishman could ask for. . . . they took away all my toys and sold them, replacing them with schoolbooks. My play clothes were thrown out, replaced by more suitable attire. For most of my days following, I learned to be proper. I learned to prepare for my schoolwork and learning things that no eight year old has to learn so soon. All to become a man...the true end of my childhood. I barely had any time to see Felix anymore. They didn't find him proper enough, being such a wild child, such as what I used to be.
"My parents began to completely change themselves. They attended the finest events-- parties, galas, balls, celebrations regarding my father and his colleagues' work. They would drag me along with them, showing me off to their wealthy associates, parading me around town like the newest attraction to a carnival. Suddenly, I hated my life. I hated them. I grew sick of everything. Nothing I tried to say mattered. And when I did, I was punished. They were consumed with this new lifestyle and the idea of transforming me. For two years, I put up with it all as best as I possibly could. Creating a mask to display for others, whenever they talked to me..a mask any suitable gentleman would wear, when he's trying to hide his true feelings. On the inside..I was full of fire. Rage. With each day, I loathed my parents even more.
"My tenth birthday finally came. I sought out the chance to get away from the house by asking my parents to go and buy myself a present. Seeing this to be a perfect opportunity to show the people I was a man, they let me go alone. I left. But not to any store. Not to anywhere else in that town. I left. My parents. My life. Staying out of sight, no one to question or come after me, I left everything. For the first time in two years, I was free.
"It wasn't long before I began to need things. I knew I was able to look after myself, without becoming a savage, but to what extent? There were essentials, like food, clothes, water, that I couldn't just grab on my own. I tried begging. Didn't work...there were a few who tried to get me sent to the orphanage. I couldn't get a job, either. The adults would have confined me and tried to shape my personality the same way the others did. The only choice I had was to let all of my teachings of being proper, civilized, refined....go. Morals only proved themselves to me to be inventions of adults. Things that 'ladies' and 'gentlemen' use to separate themselves from their true child-like nature.......so I burned them inside me. Proper Peter was no more. In no time at all, I embraced the arts of theft and manipulation, and it wasn't just for what I needed anymore. I took what I wanted. Used who I wanted. Making others do things for me, as if I was controlling them. I found I had a gift...I put others under my spell. They just couldn't resist. I became what nature intended. I quenched what the world had shaped me into-- and I became better."
After all this, he rose from his chair, once again standing over me, looking down with fierceness and pointing an authoritative finger at himself. "The world you come from is the one I abandoned. You can call me a savage...but I simply have become what my past turned me into. Free."
Sociopath, more like it.
His attitude subsided a bit, and he backed up a couple small steps.
"Eventually, as you can suspect, I left my world. How?....huh......simple. It was all because of a little fairy."
He paced.
"She found me one day, wandering the back woods of a nearby village. I had a rough day..things weren't going so well, and she saw this. The pain of watching me struggle alone was too much for her, so she revealed herself. She comforted me. When I was much smaller, my mother told me that fairies existed. And after those two years, in spite of her, I still believed it. So it wasn't too surprising for me when a fairy finally turned up. After we became acquainted, I told her my story. And she told me her's. She had been banished by her kind for trying to help someone...and she made a distant island her new home. Neverland. I asked her if I could come there....at first, she argued it wouldn't be a good idea. But I'm persistent. With enough asking, she finally let me come. And we were off. And the adjustment to this new world wasn't really that hard. Neverland wasn't all too different..apart from the fairy residing there..all the pixie dust...and the case that anyone living on the island, or at least the ones staying long enough..never aged.......but you knew that, didn't you?" "Sure."
He flickered a cocky eyebrow. "Well..............I began to realize my new home needed something. I was lonely. Apart from her, I had no one else to play with. And because of that emptiness, I found myself going back. Back to my world..back to home. Little had changed about it...and little had changed about my parents. I looked into the window..my window..into my room. What did I see? I saw them...sitting there...happy....laughing...they were more happier than they had even been with me. And they were holding something........a child. A small boy. They had another son...and replaced me. Not five years had passed since I left, and they'd forgotten all about me. And in that moment, I was filled with a new rage. A brand new fire had ignited. I hated them more than ever. But most of all, I hated that boy. That tiny wiggling larva who had taken my place...stole my home...I wanted them to suffer. Wanted him to suffer. He might have been my brother, but I wanted him dead. So I left. And I never went back.
"I made up my mind that day. That I would never, EVER trust anyone.. love anyone.. ever again. A new lesson was learned; the only one to depend on was myself. But that's not all I realized. I needed playmates, yes, but not just playmates. I was a leader. I liked leading. It made me feel power...so why not enforce it upon others? Others that I could control. On that day, I vowed to myself, that I would go to as many children as possible, and I would take them away from the lies forced upon them. I would bring them freedom and help them escape. No more adults. No more rules. No more growing up.
"I started with Felix. After five years of not seeing him, he had changed. They had forced him to go to school and learn, like me. And the poor thing almost seemed hopeless, talking to me about what was logical and reasonable...that I should return home and reunite with my parents. Get to know my baby brother. So, to shut him up..I forced him to return to the island with me. I kept him here..gradually changing his thoughts...shaping him into what I wanted. And slowly, he flourished once again as the boy I once knew. We finally both saw eye-to-eye, realizing what we both had to do."
Pan had wandered the room the entire time he spoke..and as he finished his little backstory, he turned back to me, leaning his arm against the wall.
"It's been centuries since then...last I heard, something happened to my parents. What, I don't know...I didn't bother to find out. Someone else had taken my brother. Eventually, he wound up in another realm. Believe me, I had my men search, and search, but they never could. I knew the truth. He was gone. I lost track of him....until, years later, I realized that it was none other than the infamous Rumpelstiltskin that was my long-lost brother. If I didn't hate the man so much, I would've been proud of his exploits."
My head pointed down and I gazed at my clasped hands, trying to replay the story in my head to pick out the important parts that might actually become useful.
"So........all those boys......are the ones you kidnapped?"
"..I told you. I set them free." "Set them free..." I nodded, briefly curling my lips back, almost mocking his comment. "..how?"
My eyes lifted and I turned my head at him. "You brainwashed them. Turned them into monsters, just like you. Tell me-- were they MISERABLE and hating their life, too, when you found them? Or did you just...take them..no questions asked?" "Don't turn this around."
"No, YOU don't turn this around. Don't play the victim crap, like you had no other choice. I'm sorry you went through that, I really am. Sorry that your parents were SERIOUS bad words. But what you went through is no excuse to just go and make everyone else's lives a living hell. I've went through crap, too, BELIEVE me. I've been hurt by people. Betrayed, forced into things, punched in the face more times than I can count. But you don't see me taking it out on everyone else and making them suffer. Not everyone's like your parents. There are good people, who love their kids, and allow them to become what they want. But you didn't think about that, did you? You just chose to rip kids away from their families--their lives--and ruined them. Forcing them to think like you. As far as I'm concerned, you're not different from your parents. In fact....huh.....what you do isn't too far off from what they did to you..is it?"
Pan only stared at me, for what seemed like the rest of the night.
After awhile, he began to take deep, rapid breaths, and before long, he stepped towards me.
"They aren't your friends, you know....they've never been, and they never will be. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if they've already abandoned you."
I didn't flinch..but his words made me speak softer,
"We have our own agreement. They're not leaving me."
He then laughed, mockingly, and it made my ears sting and stomach ache.
"Look at you! Putting your faith in villains! It's adorable, really."
At that moment, he bent low, resting his forearms against his crouched legs, and he got up a little too close, his crazy expressive eyebrows raising a bit as his mouth cheerfully hung open.
The way he was staring, I already felt violated. This honestly was worse than Jim, and that's saying a lot.
"Honestly...you truly believe you're ever going back home? After everything you've done..everything you've seen? Your family is never going to want you back. And even if you did, by the time that happened, they wouldn't be able to recognize you....you won't be able to recognize yourself. Just give it time. You'll become a monster like the rest of us....you'll see......you've already begun."
His hand lifted and gently, he held my chin with his thumb and index finger.
It brought me shivers, wondering what villainous thing he was intending to do to me.
"...All you are now....is a lost girl."
My heart instantly sank.
"...make yourself at home, love.." He then leaned forward a bit and I was fully ready to smash my fist into his pretty little face...but he suddenly deviated from the course and brought his head next to mine.
"....you fit right in."
He said this in a harsh, chilling whisper....which also stung.
He then leaned back, made a little heartless laugh, and rose back up, chuckling all the while.
After giving me one more minute of staring, he started back for the door.
"You can stop waiting on your boyfriends now. Even if they haven't left yet...they will when I'm through with them... And then your only hope will be gone."
My fists clenched tightly, and I found myself jerking my body forward.
"You keep away, you slime!!" It was a bitter yell, but it was fruitless.
He had already opened and closed the door, peeking at me from the small bit of window.
And through it, I could see his wicked little smile, that never lost it's effect.
"Sweet dreams, princess."
And he was gone.
Even 10 minutes passing didn't change my sorry state.
I couldn't breathe. Eyes burning, trying not to shed tears..my heart refusing to beat..my head banging from being hot and compressed...all I could do to keep from breaking down was lay my head on the pillow and stare with watery eyes at the door, as I remained completely shattered and hopeless.
His words lingered in the air, haunting me, as if he never even left.
He was right.......I really am a lost girl.
- - -
I got roughly an hour of dreamless sleep before an image broke out of the darkness..
and suddenly, I was in the forest. In Neverland.
And I was running.
This wasn't a prophetic vision, thank God. This was an actual legit dream.
The kind everyone has; which was refreshing.
I was running so fast and so far.
I remember someone being fast on my tail, but at the time, I just couldn't figure out who.
I came, finally, to an open area. The setting sun showed itself through the wide space in the trees to my left.
The ground was now broken and continued across from me, to the other side of a huge, stretched out ditch.
This should have been a river, but the only water present served as a weak little stream, that made a pleasant little trickling sound. All around were beautiful fireflies, that flickered on and off with their mesmerizing golden glow. They all seemed to be congregating in one direction, to my right.
Seeming as if they wanted me to go that way.
I suddenly heard the sounds of my pursuer come fast and close behind me, so I quickly jumped down and followed the army of fireflies, who did indeed want me to follow them, as they began blinking repeatedly before swarming in the same direction ahead of me.
I was running so fast, trudging through the stream of cold water, that I almost tripped.
Before I could see what the fireflies were leading me to, I felt a hand grasp the back of my shirt..
and before I could breathe, I was thrown to the ground.
Water splashed violently and came back all over me, making me gasp for air as it attempted to enter my lungs. I squeezed my eyes, briefly, then I looked behind me only to see who my attacker was....Pan.
The horrible teenager got a better hold on me and tried to drag me back, but I fought him off.
Kicking him right in the general not-nice-area, he fell back and I jumped ahead of him.
I heard a shuffle behind, guessing only that he was in pursuit again, when an even greater splash occurred, and I couldn't help but look behind as I continued on.
Someone had tackled Pan and had held him back, the young villain trying his best to fight him off..
someone with shaggy black hair, and dark clothing.
I knew this guy..I knew this guy from somewhere.
It's obvious he's the dark-haired mystery boy who I saw in my visions.
Who watched me at the Dairy Queen back home. Who jumped infront of me at Pizza Hut and told me to run, seconds before I was kidnapped by the boys. And here he was, saving me in a perfectly normal dream. . . . . I have seen him before.
It was him. The man I've been dreaming about since I was 15. The same guy who's face I can't see...who's always saving me...every time he's around, I feel happy. Safe. He makes me feel like everything's gonna be okay. I knew now that the mystery boy from this whole debacle and my dream boy that I confessedly have fallen in total love with were one and the same.
But the key question remains....who is he?
Mystery Boy was throwing mighty skilled punches at Pan, doing a very fine job at holding him back.
I took the opportunity he, like a proper gentleman, had held for me, and sped like a cheetah after the glowing bugs. They had all been waiting for me a short distance away, and immediately picked the trail back up as I got closer.
A few minutes later, we arrived at the destination they were leading me to.
I looked up above me at a huge tower, that was completely foreign to the rest of the island.
It was grey, but shiny and blinding, and very metal.
My eyes lifted to the top of the tower and all's I could see were four men...my men.
My companions.
They were flagging me down, urging me to hurry and get up there.
But as they began to shout, my hearing cut off and they froze.
In fact, all sounds had muted and everything was suddenly still.
I could hear and feel nothing.
And in an instant, a shock came to me, and I shut my eyes as everything around me closed in, back into darkness, and I felt my body fly like I had caught on to a mighty breeze...
- - -
I was awoken by the rather loud voices coming from outside, and obnoxious laughter that made me want to stuff my head underneath the pillow. My eyes didn't take much time adjusting to the light, cuz there really wasn't much light to speak of.
That dream was rather clear. I needed to get out of here.
I would never admit it to him, but Pan was right.
I couldn't trust the others. They might have already left without me. Even not, I didn't wanna give them any longer of a chance to do so.
I brought my legs around the bedding, rubbed my sore eyes and took a deep breath.
Rising up and stepping to the door, I peeked out the window..which was a feat, considering it was tall and I'm not. I saw that Pan had built himself a little jail area, that had sturdy walls around the cave-like cell, from what I could see. I looked to my right, where a small table sat and all of my things rested on top of it.
I looked to my left and there sat the gate leading to true freedom, that was all iron bars in an otherwise stone surrounding. I looked back infront of me and forced myself to stand a little higher, tip-booting my best to the top. Pan wasn't all that smart. He only had two 'guards' standing watch outside.
Both looked no older than 14-15 years old.
I lowered myself back down and rested my forehead against the door, as I contemplated on what to do.
If you didn't already get the impression, being imprisoned sucks.
I don't know why bad guys choose to be bad guys, when this is inevitably where they end up.
Sure, at the moment, being a good guy was no picnic, either.. but it's not like junk happened all the time.
It usually only happens when I let myself get caught....which I really need to learn to stop from happening.
Due to my returning headache, it hurt too much to think, so I retreated back to my bedding and held my head. This became me resting my face against my leg.
This became me digging my chin atop my knee.
This became me getting an idea.
I took a couple of berries and stuffed them under my blanket.
I waited a few minutes to successfully make myself appear more drained and groggy, like something was wrong. When I felt prepared enough, I stood up and stumbled over to the door.
"Hello.....hello?"
My voice lowered to a very cracked, weak half-whisper.
A face appeared..one of the teens was tall enough to look through the window with ease.
Lucky duck.
"..What?" He said, rudely.
I made it appear that it was difficult to swallow.
"--I---I need to see Pan---I---I don't feel---so good--"
"Drink some water."
"..It's dirty." "Go on, then."
I huffed on the inside and walked back to my tray, rolling my eyes when he wasn't looking.
I turned my back to the kid and took hold of my cup of yucky water.
Before I brought it up to my face and pretend to drink, I quickly splashed it silently onto the bedding as I lifted it up, so I didn't actually have to digest anything.
I set the cup down and held my hot head.
"Well?"
"..ugghhh...no change...I feel so hot...my head hurts..."
"Then get some sleep."
It took all that was in me not to yell.
"Sleep didn't help...I've been sleeping for an hour."
"Then eat!"
Here, I turned and showed him that two berries were missing.
"I took a couple of berries...could they have been poisonous?!"
Cue panicked expression.
He rolled his eyes. "You'll be fine. Those aren't poisonous. Get some more sleep."
He turned away. Some gentleman.
I scowled.
Very well then. Time to get dramatic, and pull dem training years of acting to good use!
I sat back on my bedding and waited a few more minutes...
before..
cough
cough
cough cough!
Cough Cough Cough!
I gagged. I wheezed. I coughed more forcefully.
More desperately.
I whimpered in between those coughs and once I saw that the kid was looking, I made my body tremble, and held my face as I pretended to hold back my fake series of gags and chokes.
I threw in some desperate gasping-fish breathing and gradually started to sound like something actually was wrong with me...
As he started to show signs of panic, I bent down, holding my stomach, gagging my way to freedom.
Eventually, I fell, appearing as though I had lost the battle.
I 'passed out'.
The teen shouted and yelled at his friend, hurriedly playing with the door.
Then bunk! The door swung open.
I know because I was keeping my eyes open only a slit to monitor the two.
The one ran up to me, yelling at the other to keep watch. He crouched down and laid a hand on the side of my throat. "Miss!! Miss!!"
And I actually felt a little sorry for what I was about to do to him.
I suddenly clasped his face, covering his mouth, and pivoted him around, twisting his body backwards, until I kicked his lifting legs in from behind, bringing his knees to the ground, where I took his weapon and hit him HARD on the head. This caused him to fall, unconscious, and the act only took a mere two seconds.
Next, I grabbed the tray, dumping it of it's contents as I did so, and sped right up to the other Lost Boy, who quickly turned at the noise, but unfortunately for him, was only greeted with a tray to the face.
This made him stagger back, holding his nose in pain, before I grabbed his throat, spinning him around, and putting him in a headlock, squeezing with just enough pressure to make him choke for air.
Eventually, he passed out.
I let his body fall, then dragged him by the arms back inside.
I disarmed them both, tossing their weapons outside the cell, and stole away the keys, where I grabbed the doorknob, shut it closed, and locked it good and tight.
After throwing the keys over the wall into the trees, I turned and ran to my stuff.
Equipping myself good and proper once more.
Once that was taken care of, I turned to the gate and swung it open.
It did so with ease, revealing the open running space beyond.
I gave the cell one last glance, as I smirked satisfyingly, and stepped through the prison grounds.
Take that, MacGyver.
This was a great chapter, well worth the wait! Good job at depicting Evil Pan, I could certainly picture his smug face. Excellent work.
ReplyDeleteEEEEEEK!!!! THIS FIRST PART THOUGHHH!!!!!!!
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